The Day the Earth Stood Still A science fiction thriller starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly and John Cleese. Directed by Scott Derrickson.

What a frustrating disappointment. That was my first thought as soon as the movie ended. There was so much to like about this film that it was indeed frustrating to me when the wheels somewhat come off the tracks near the end. The movie is still worth seeing (at least worth a rental) but some poor choices in the plot, plus fatal turn toward “hokiness” keep it from being all it could have been.

The story (which, for those unaware, is a remake of an early 1950s sci-fi classic): an alien space-sphere lands in Central Park. A team of scientists is rounded up quickly, including astrophysicist Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) and taken to the location. While there, an alien with “elephant-like skin” is accidentally shot by a panicked soldier. The wounded alien is followed off the spaceship by Gort, a fearsome, faceless robotic creature at least 30 feet tall. The wounded alien stops Gort from destroying the soldiers before he is taken to an underground bunker for treatment.

Milk A biography starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and James Franco. Directed by Gus Van Sant.

In truth, biographies are not my favorite film genre. The story is already told and likely familiar to the audience, there is somewhat less room for creativity and, too often, biographies mistakenly slip into hero worship for the main subject, which can inadvertently dehumanize the subject. That said, I also see the value of a well done biography, as the best can not only entertain, but educate and enlighten the public about a figure of historical and/or cultural significance. 



Though Milk is not the best biography I have ever seen, it is a good one, extremely well made and obviously a passionate labor of love for its makers. Every note rings true, from the performances to the authentic locations, and it does a remarkable job of capturing a particular time and place in history-the moment when gay activist Harvey Milk became the leader of the civil rights movement, became the first open homosexual to be elected for public office and eventually served for one year before being assassinated, along with Mayor George Moscone, by fellow representative Dan White.


In making this list, I decided not to make a list of what I feel are the best horror films ever made, but the scariest, (though many, if not most, would make both lists). All are ones that when I first saw them actually scared me and left me haunted by what I saw, lying in bed with my eyes open, thinking about what I had just experienced over and over again. I’d recommend any of these movies if you want to be scared.

Black Christmas (1974)-Bob Clark

The first time I watched the original Black Christmas, I was alone. When it was over, I had to check every room and every closet in my apartment before I could try to go to sleep and I lay there in the dark, fully alert to every sound and partly mad at myself for watching this movie right before going to bed.

I honestly feel this is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. The plot is now a cliché: a sorority house starts receiving bizarre phone calls from a psychopath. Little do they know the killer is already in the house, ready to pick them off one by one.

For better or worse, Black Christmas invented the slasher genre. However, it is not a gory film, but is focused more on using shadows, "boo scares" and eerie music to create a truly frightening experience.

What adds to the terror: The audience never gets a good look at the killer, only his shadow, his demented voice on the phone and a single, horrifying shot of his eye through a crack in a door (one of the most bone chilling shots in a movie I have ever seen). The mystery around him, the fact that you never get a good look at him, makes him all the more frightening to me.

NOTE: Please, please, PLEASE do not confuse the original with the horrible remake released a few years ago. The remake is completely worthless and is an insult to the original.

No Country for Old Men A thriller starring Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem. Direct by Joel and Ethan Coen.

When I saw No Country for Old Men for the first time, to quote Sherriff Bell, “It certainly made an impression on me.” However, even though it went on to win Best Picture, there also was somewhat of a backlash against it, with some saying the film was overrated and that its controversial and ambiguous ending was more pretentious than effective. However, having just revisited the film through the new and extremely impressive blu-ray edition, I have decided my first impressions were correct. I feel it is a masterpiece, one of the best films of the past few years and one that will be remembered for a long, long time.



The setting: West Texas, 1980. A poor welding named Llewellyn Moss, while out hunting, stumbles across, in the middle of nowhere, the aftermath of a drug deal gone horribly wrong. It is a total massacre ("They even shot the dog," a deputy proclaims) yet Moss realizes one vital cog is missing-the money. He later finds, in the arms of a corpse under a shade tree, the money, nearly $2 million in cash. Yet Moss makes one crucial mistake: out of guilt, he tries to bring water to the lone survivor of the massacre-which puts one Anton Chigurh on his trail. The rest of the plot I will not reveal for those who have not experienced it yet.


Things We Lost in the Fire is a drama starring Halle Berry, Benecio Del Toro,David Duchovny and John Carroll Lynch. Directed by Suzanne Bier.

Things We Lost in the Fire is about two people coming to terms with the loss of the most important person in their lives (who happens to be the same person) and how they find they need each other, in very different ways, to help deal with the loss. However, while there are many poignant and quite effective moments, the film slips too often into melodrama and thus, is not quite as effective and moving as it could have been.

The film has a non-linear structure in the first part, before becoming linear in the second. In flashbacks, we meet Brian (Duchovny), who has a near perfect marriage with Audrey (Berry), with two kids, a beautiful home and a successful business. He also has a seemingly one sided friendship with Jerry (Del Toro), one which Audrey does not approve of. Jerry is a heroin addict and Audrey fears that the friendship will only bring harm to Brian.